He mentioned the steady progress in agreements
Roseville, Calif. – In response to the article, Registered nurses at Kaiser Permanente in Roseville to take part in a two-day strikeKaiser Permanente reached out to Roseville Today to share their stance on the planned strike and the ongoing labor negotiations. Their unedited response is presented in full below.
Our nurses’ dedication to providing expert, compassionate care, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, has been nothing short of inspiring. We are committed to continuing to offer excellent compensation and a working environment committed to the well-being, safety and career opportunities of our Nurses.
We have been bargaining with California Nurses Association (CNA) for months, and steady progress has been made toward these goals, including in today’s hearing. We’ve already reached important agreements negotiating employment, workplace safety, diversity and inclusion, and other important matters.
In Northern California, we put an offer on the table, which includes higher annual increases for our nurses than we’ve been able to offer in decades – 22 1/2% pay increase over 4 years of the contract. Our proposal is driven by a changing economy, including inflation, significant market changes and our commitment to providing our people with excellent wages and benefits.
It is disappointing to receive a strike notice from CNA to strike for two days on the 21st and 22nd of November, given the many agreements we have already reached in negotiation, and the generous economic proposal we are bringing to the table. This tactic backfires and distracts everyone from reaching an agreement. Beyond that, our patients need their nurses to be on their side, especially as we thrive again at a time when influenza and RSV disease affect so many patients and COVID-19 is still very real and infects thousands every day. Knowing the professionalism and dedication of our nurses, we believe they also prefer being with patients.
Right now, every healthcare provider in the country is facing staffing shortages and battling burnout, and Kaiser Permanente is not immune.
Despite the severe shortage of nurses in the state, our commitment to being the best place for nurses to work has enabled us Kaiser Permanente Northern California To hire about 3,300 additional nurses since 2021 including 650 fresh graduates employed through the Nurse Residency Program. We are committed to hiring hundreds of additional nurses, in addition to the hundreds we already bring in through extensive recruiting and staffing, to provide relief for our nurses and address staffing shortages. As a result of all of this work, we’re proud that Kaiser Permanente has a low turnover rate for nurses in healthcare, and we don’t take this achievement for granted. The union’s claims about unsafe staffing levels are not true. Kaiser Permanente meets or exceeds state mandated staffing percentages.
Our first priority is always the care and safety of our members and patients. We have contingency plans in place to ensure patients get the care they need in the event of a strike by CNA. Our hospitals, emergency departments and medical offices will remain open and staffed by healthcare professionals. If a member has an appointment affected by a CNA strike, we will reach out to make sure their needs are met.
Kaiser Permanente has a long and productive history with organized labor and we are proud of our ability to successfully reach agreements with our unions, which represent 160,000 Kaiser Permanente employees – more than any other healthcare organization in the country. Labor unions have always played an important role in our efforts to give more people access to quality care and to make care more affordable.
Note: In Northern California, CNA represents approximately 21,000 nurses in locations throughout the region. In Southern California, CNA represents 1,200 nurses at a single medical center in Los Angeles.
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